Polbrock

So while there were a number of full size locomotives on show at Model Rail Live last weekend, it was of course a model railway show so I thought the next post about the event should feature a model layout. According to the programme there were 16 layouts in total, but my favourite, by a long way, was Polbrock.

Polbrock has been built by Chris Nevard and it's construction has been documented in a number of articles that have appeared in Model Rail magazine and on Chris's blog. I thought it looked really good in the magazine photos, but it was even better in real life, and certainly my favourite layout of those on show.

As you can probably tell from the second photo the layout is actually quite small; in fact it's just 2 foot 10 inches long by 1 foot wide. What it lacks in size it more than makes up for in attention to detail. It really is a work of art.

When I started this blog I mentioned that I would probably start with a small diorama to test my modelling skills. I'd assumed that to be interesting to look at and operate a layout would have to include multiple lines or even be a full shunting puzzle layout. Having now seen Polbrock in the flesh I've realised that isn't the case, and I've now got a couple of ideas for single line dioramas of a similar size which, if/when I start work on them, will I'm sure result in a number of future blog posts.

A Roundhead At A Roundhouse

Last Saturday I spent an enjoyable day at Model Rail Live which, for the third year running, was being held at Barrow Hill Roundhouse.

I've never been to a model rail show before (although as a child I remember seeing fixed layouts in a number of places) and so wasn't quite sure what to expect. I did know, however, that Model Rail Live like to distinguish themselves from other similar events by having real engines on show and in use as well as the models.

I wasn't surprised, therefore, when the first thing I actually saw was Britannia class 70013, Oliver Cromwell -- named, of course, after the most famous of Roundheads. The engine was built in 1951 and was removed from service on the last official day of steam on the British Rail network in 1968 when it was one of the engines to pull the Fifteen Guinea Special.

There were too many locomotives and layouts in many different gauges to cover them all in a single post, so expect a few more posts as I work through the photos.

Lasers On A Train

On Wednesday I was waiting in Sheffield station for my train home from work when this Netwrok Rail maintenance train trundled through. Normally the maintenance trains aren't particularly interesting to me (they are after all diesel powered) but the number of laser warning labels stuck to this one caught my eye.

Apparently it's an optical structure gauging train, which I'm guessing means it uses lasers to check that the rails are still in the right place!

Standard Gauge Transfers

I thought it was stressful enough adding transfers to the two OO gauge coal wagons (here and here) I built, I can't imagine how sressful it would be to be responsible for adding them to a full size passenger coach!

A Naked Duck

Having recently been on holiday and then having to spend time catching up on work that had built up while I was away I haven't had time to do much modelling for quite a few weeks. Of course this blog isn't just about modelling so for this post I'm going to delve back into my childhood, via some of my Dad's photographs, so get ready to behold a naked duck.

After Flying Scotsman the UK's most famous steam engine is probably LNER 4468; more commonly known as Mallard. On the 3rd of July 1938 Mallard was recorded reaching a top speed of 126mph breaking the world record for a steam locomotive; amazingly that record still stands. Next year will see the 75th anniversary of that record breaking run and while Mallard will be given a cosmetic overhaul she will, unfortunately, remain stuffed and mounted as a static exhibit at the National Railway Museum in York. Things were, however, very different in 1988 when Mallard celebrated fifty years since her record breaking run.

Preparations for the 50th anniversary started in the early 1980's as she was slowly restored to working order. By the 28th of September 1985 she was once more raising steam as these photos show.

I love these photos as although they show what a sorry state Mallard was in at the time (the rust marks on the tender are shocking) they allow you to see that underneath the streamlined casing the A4 Pacifics are in fact very similar to other steam engines of a similar size. She has a tubular boiler, smokebox door and (in this case) a double Kylchap chimney. I don't actually remember this trip to the National Railway Museum but I know I was there as I actually appear in the left hand photo; I'm the small blond haired child being lifted up by my mother in the middle at the bottom of the photo.

By the 25th of March 1986 the overhaul was complete and Mallard returned to mainline duties pulling a special train from York to Doncaster via Scarborough and Hull. Looking through my Dad's slides I can see that we saw her at York two months later on the 25th of May pulling the Scarborough Spa Express and then again on the 25th of August when the photo to the left was taken. Here you can see Mallard, again pulling the Scarborough Spa Express, racing out of York towards Scarborough; you can just see the National Railway Museum through the bridge.

It's a shame that such an evocative sight won't greet those people who visit York next year for the 75th anniversary of the world record. Deciding to overhaul and return an iconic engine to steam is always a difficult decision to make. A full overhaul often involves replacing large parts of the locomotive that cannot be repaired (often the boiler) and there will come a time when little of the original locomotive remains. When Flying Scotsman finally returns to mainline steam duties very little of the original engine will remain, and I guess the National Railway Museum have taken the view that retaining Mallard as a static exhibit is preferable especially as there are a number of other A4 Pacifics currently in operation and certified for use on Britain’s mainline railway network.

Note that a lot of the information for this post came from Don Hale's brilliant book Mallard: How The 'Blue Streak' Broke The World Speed Record which I can heartily recommend for anyone who wants to know more about this wonderful and historic locomotive.

Henry de Lacy II

If you've been reading this blog since the first post, or have read the relevant posts on my other blog, you will know I have a fondness for Flying Scotsman. Now you may thing that if, as a child, I was going to have a photo of a steam train on my bedroom wall that it would be of Flying Scotsman. You would, however, be wrong. The photo on my bedroom wall was of Henry de Lacy II.

My Dad took the photo, and thanks to my Mum careful labelling each slide, I know that it was shot on the 16th of April 1983 at Middleton Railway; note that the slide is in better condition than this image gives it credit, but as my Dad has borrowed my slide scanner this was scanned using the slide adaptor on my flatbed scanner which doesn't produce particularly good images. I'm not sure why this particular photo should have ended up on my wall but it could actually be the first steam engine I saw in the flesh. Of all the slides of steam engines my parents have recently given me (and which formed part of the inspiration for this blog) it's got the earliest date so there is a good chance this was taken on my first trip to a steam railway.

Henry de Lacy II was built by Hudswell Clarke and Company in 1917 for use at Kirkstall Forge in Leeds where it spent it's entire working life. Apparently it was the second of four locomotives to be named after Baron Henry de Laci of Pontefract, who, in 1152, allowed Cistercian monks to found an abbey adjacent to the site of Kirkstall Forge. Interestingly it is the only locomotive at Middleton Railway to have arrived under it's own power having used the mainline network to travel from the forge to the railway when, in 1968, the forge donated it to the railway.

Henry de Lacy II can still be found at Middleton Railway, although now as a static exhibit in the engine shed -- if you take care to follow the health and safety notices you can even visit it's cab. Looking at the old photo I think it was probably a static exhibit back in 1983 as there is a board placed across the chimney. Either way it's actually looking a lot better now after a new coat of paint.

The Dining Car

Back in 2010 we had a railway themed holiday based in Inverness. One of the places we visited was the Strathspey Steam Railway which runs for ten miles along the route of the old Highland Railway from Aviemore to Broomhill. On the day we visited it was raining heavily but even so the views from the railway are spectacular. Given that it was wet and cold the offer of tea and coffee on the train was both civilized and very welcome. Of course the surroundings for our coffee were not quite as spectacular as on the other train at Aviemore station.

The Royal Scotsman was obviously doing one of it's expensive rail tours, and while it was only half past three in the afternoon the tables had already been laid for the evening meal. I'm sure it's a wonderful way to see Scotland, but it's well out of my price range!